Settings

The #CODeSports Rules must be enabled for all Games.

All of the Settings and Restrictions are listed below. Settings listed as bold have been changed for the #CODeSports Rules from their default state.

The hosting team is responsible for setting up the game with the correct map and enabling the #CODeSports Rules. Starting a game with the wrong settings will result in a forfeit for the rounds in which the incorrect settings were used IF the settings affected gameplay. If a game is played out of order, the hosting team will forfeit the game. (i.e. If S&D Octane is Game 3, but played as Game 1, the team that hosted S&D Octane will Forfeit that game.)

General Settings

Max Health: Normal

Health Regeneration: Normal

Create Default Loadouts: None

Spectating: Team Only

Kill Cam: Enabled

Radar Always On: No

Wave Respawn Delay: None

Force Respawn: Enabled

Friendly Fire: Enabled

Perks: Enabled

Hardcore Mode: Disabled

Headshots Only: Disabled

Killstreaks: Enabled

Field Orders: Disabled

Loadout Restrictions: None

Blitz

Time Limit: 5 Minutes

Score Limit: Unlimited

Number of Lives: Unlimited

Respawn Delay: 5 Seconds

Maps

Blitz - Freight

Blitz - Octane

Blitz - Warhawk

Domination

Time Limit: 5 Minutes

Teams will switch sides after Round 1 and add scores together after Round 2.

Score Limit: Unlimited

Respawn Delay: 5 Seconds

Number of Lives: Unlimited

Maps

Domination - Freight

Domination - Octane

Domination - Sovereign

Domination - Strikezone

Search and Destroy

Round Length: 1.5 Minutes

Bomb Timer: 45 Seconds

Plant Time: 5 Seconds

Defuse Time: 7.5 Seconds

Multi Bomb: Disabled

Score Limit: 6 Points

Round Switch: Every Round

Number of Lives: 1 Life

Maps

Search and Destroy - Freight

Search and Destroy - Octane

Search and Destroy - Sovereign

Search and Destroy - Warhawk

Game Mode Order

Bo5: 1: Domination, 2: SnD, 3: Blitz 4: Domination, 5:SnD

Restricted Items

Restricted Weapons

Secondary Launchers

MSBS

All Marksman Rifles

Riot Shield

Maverick Assault & Sniper Rifle

Restricted Attachments

Grenade Launcher

Akimbo

Rapid Fire

Semi-Automatic

Burst Fire

Tracker Sight

Restricted Tacticals

9-Bang

Motion Sensor

Thermobaric

Restricted Lethals

I.E.D

C4

Canister Bomb

Restricted Perks

Recon

Amplify

Gambler

Ping

Deadeye

Stalker

Danger Close

Restricted Special Uniforms

Ghillie Suit

Restricted Kill Streaks

All Assault

All Support

Specialists (Specialist is allowed, but you must refer to the Restricted Perks, See Above)

Gameplay

Using any Restricted Item listed above will result in a forfeit of the game, or a forfeit of the Search and Destroy round(s) in which the Restricted Item was used.

We highly recommend that all players appear offline and set their Friends List to Private during the Qualifier. However, players are not required to do either of these things.

After a game lobby has been created, only players on the two teams and MLG Staff members may be invited/join. If a player who is not a registered member of one of the teams (ineligible player) joins a game, the game must be ended. If a player is found to have invited an ineligible player to a game, they will forfeit the game.

If a player lags out of a game during the first 30 seconds or before the first kill, the game must be restarted. If a player lags out of a game after the first 30 seconds or after the first kill, the game must continue and the player who lagged out may rejoin the game. If all players on a team lag out, that team will forfeit the game.

If a player lags out of a search and destroy game, the current round must be completed. After that round has been completed, the game must be ended. It is the responsibility of the shorthanded team to end or leave the game before the start of the next round. Rounds that are played while a team is shorthanded will be counted. After a game is ended, the shorthanded team will be given 5 minutes for their teammate to return before they must start another round shorthanded. When the game resumes, the score will be as it was when the game was ended and the teams will be set to begin the next round from the proper sides. For example, if Team A was leading 1 point to 0 when a player on Team B lagged out, and round 2 was won by Team A, the game would resume with Team A leading 2 points to 0.

Any form of cheating, glitching, abusing in-game mechanics, or unsportsmanlike behavior may result in a forfeit of a Map, Match, or Ban from GameBattles. Punishable unsportsmanlike behavior includes, but is not limited to, excessive use of foul or degrading language. In addition, breaking any rule may result in a forfeit of a Round/Map, forfeit of a Match, Verbal Warning or Ban from GameBattles.

Online Tournament Staff reserve the right to stream any match in this tournament. If your team's match is chosen, you are to cooperate fully with the staff that are in your match. Any community casters that join are not to be kicked from the room for any reason.

If a Match is selected to be streamed by MLG, Gfinity, or ACL Pro, the Players involved may not stream any Games of the Match. Players found streaming a Game(s) that is also being streamed by MLG, Gfinity, or ACL Pro may Forfeit the Game(s).

If a game should tie, it must be replayed.

For all Domination Games, two 5-minute rounds must be played, with teams switching sides after the first Round. After the second round, the scores from both rounds must be added together, and the team with the highest total points will win the Game

Intentionally blocking a Blitz Objective Zone while one or more stories above or below the Goal will result in a forfeit of the game.

Opening the mid-Map Care Package on Blitz - Octane will result in a forfeit of the game.

General

Eligibility: Players must be at least 18 years old as of January 9, 2014. Teams must include at least 2 Players who are residents of their qualifying country/region. Players may only compete in the qualification process for 1 country/region. Teams must keep the same Roster of Players from the start until the end of their country/region’s qualification process. Teams may not include any employees of Activision Publishing, Microsoft Corporation, MLG, ePrize, Inc., any entity involved in the promotion of the 2014 Call of Duty® World Championship, and any of their parent and affiliate companies as well as the immediate family (spouse, parents, siblings and children) and household members. Players will be required to show government issued identification for verification that they meet these eligibility requirements. Any team found using an ineligible player may be disqualified.

Teams that participate in this tournament are NOT permitted to participate in the New Zealand Preliminary Qualifier

Teams must be complete with 4 eligible Players at least ten minutes prior to the start of the tournament. Once all Players have been verified and a Qualifying competition has begun, no substitutions will be permitted.

Users must utilize their own unique username for competing on GameBattles. This unique username must have been registered on GameBattles personally by you the user. The registered username must contain the correct and complete Name, Address, and Email of the user. If a false Name, Address, or Email was entered, the user voids the privilege to participate in the event and or receive any prizes.

As a user, you are personally responsible for accepting any invitation to a team. If you do not personally accept a team invitation, you may be disqualified from competing. You also forfeit the ability to receive a prize.

The rules are subject to change at any time before the registration deadline, so check them often. In extremely rare cases, rules may be altered after the tournament has started.

Any changes to a team roster after the tournament has been seeded is at the discretion of tournament staff. This includes, but is not limited to, changes to Xbox Live Gamertags.

Users are prohibited from sharing account information stored on GameBattles with another person for any reason. This includes, but is not limited to the following: usernames, passwords, gamertags, email accounts, etc. If another person accesses your account, you may be disqualified from the event and removed from GameBattles. This includes giving out your password to allow others to account recover your XBL Gamertag. In the event an account is stolen, the account creator is responsible for any lost credits/damages to that account

We have a check in system where players will have to go through a check in process after creating their team to acknowledge they are ready to play in the tournament. Teams who DO NOT go through the check in procedure will not be eligible for the Qualifier and will NOT be placed into the bracket. Anyone on your team can check the whole team in. For a detailed explanation on how to check in, Please review this thread.

Participation in a Qualifying competition constitutes entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Rules, the Official Rules on the Prize tab, and Referee decisions, which are final and binding in all matters related to the 2014 Call of Duty® World Championship. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.

All Matches

No warm-up or practice games are permitted once the Match’s first game has begun.

If a match is played before the scheduled time, it will not be considered a warm-up and will count as the official scores. No warm-ups, or practices between teams are allowed during Online Tournament play.

Teams must have at least three players present in order to start a game. A team will forfeit the Match if they don’t have at least three players present by 15 minutes after a Match’s default start time (Grace Period). Teams that played a previous game(s) in a Match will forfeit the Match if they don’t have at least three players present by ten minutes after the conclusion of the previous game (Grace Period). Teams with three players present will be forced to start a game at the end of a Grace Period. Bots are not permitted in any game. If Teams that are scheduled to play each other both forfeit a game or Match, the higher seeded team will be awarded the Game/Match win

To get help with a No Show issue, you MUST contact Staff via Tournament Live Support. We must verify the No Show. To get to Live Support, click on the Support tab within the Tournament and go to the Live Support link. If no OLT Support Specialists are available, you must submit a Ticket within 30 minutes of the scheduled match time. Please include any proof that you have that they did not show. You must go into the match and select the "I'm reporting: my opponent did not show" option under Report Problem at the top.

For any allegations of cheating, wrong weapons used, glitching, etc., you MUST contact Staff via Tournament Live Support. If no OLT Support Specialists are available, you must immediately submit a Ticket along with your proof of the accusation. Glitching accusations must be supported by video proof. Video proof can be edited to include only the section where the offense takes place; however, the video MUST include the score screen at one point. Please also see rule 5 under Reporting. If proof is not included with your ticket, or the ticket is submitted too late after the match start time, the win will be decided by an OLT Support Specialist.

Teams may delay a Match between games for up to ten minutes. Teams can request that an OLT Support Specialist enforce this ten minute time limit.

Bracket Play

This Qualifier has a limit of 512 teams. If more than 512 teams check in, priority will be given to the first 512 teams that were created

After losing a Match, teams will be eliminated from the Bracket.

A best of 5 Games Consolation Match must be played between the Teams that lose in the 2nd to last round, in order to determine the 3rd place Team.

All Round 1 Matches have the same default start time. After Round 1, all Matches have a unique default start time that is dependent upon the time at which the teams’ previous round results were submitted. Matches must be started by their default start time and played until completion. Matches may not be postponed for any reason.

If a Match is not played, and neither team submits a Ticket requesting the forfeit win, the Match win will be decided by an OLT Support Specialist.

Host

The Host is the player who must create a Custom Games Lobby for a game and ensure that the proper Settings and Map are being used.

The higher seeded team must host all odd numbered games in a Match. The lower seeded team must host all even numbered games in a Match. The Game Types must be played in order (See “Game Mode Order” in the Settings section above).

Hosting players should create the Custom Games Lobby. As the hosting team changes over the course of a Match, the new Host should leave the Custom Games Lobby and create a new one. If host isn’t given to the player that was designated to be the game’s host, the game must still be played.

Teams should play a Lag Test Game, for roughly 30 seconds, to determine if a Host is acceptable. If it is determined that the Host is unacceptable, a new Lag Test Game should be performed with a new Host. Lag Test Games should be played using a Game Mode and/or Map that the teams are not schedule to play.

All players must agree that the Host is reasonable before the start of a game. If a reasonable Host cannot be found, Tournament Live Support MUST be used to request an OLT Support Specialist to help decide who will host the game. If an OLT Support Specialist is not available, the best Host should be used.

If a player’s connection to the Host becomes unreasonable during a game, the game must still be played. After each game, either team may request that a new Host be tested, if the previous Host was unreasonable. The round/game where connection became unreasonable will not be replayed.

The Team that doesn’t Host a Game must choose to play as Ghosts or Federation for that Game.

OLT Support Staff

OLT Support Specialists can be contacted on Tournament Live Support to answer any questions or solve any problems your team may have during a Match. Contact information for OLT Support Specialists can be found on the Support Tab located within the Tournament. Arena Referees and Arena Administrators should not be contacted.

Only one player per team should be using Live Support for your in-game issues. Also, the player needs to stay on Live Support until someone answers the call.

If an OLT Support Specialist is called into a Custom Games Lobby, players must keep the OLT Support Specialist un-muted at all times.

Verbal and/or written abuse of a Staff member called into a match will not be tolerated. This includes, but is not limited to: Forum Posts, GameBattles Private Messages, Tickets, Live Support Messages, AIM messages, and XBL messages. The individual user and/or team violating this rule will be subject to penalties. All team leaders are responsible for the conduct of the players on the team while interacting with Staff and are subject to penalties if a team member becomes abusive towards Staff.

OLT Support Specialists that enter a match have the discretion to make necessary calls to ensure the match is completed successfully. When in a match, the Staff member's call is final and must be followed. Failure to do so will result in penalties for your team. After the match, if you disagree with a call made, first you must accurately report the match and then you can submit a ticket for review by an Admin. Do not dispute the match on purpose.

Reporting

Both teams must report the Match results within 10 minutes of its completion. Failure to report on time may result in your account being suspended for 3 days.

To report the Match results, teams must report the Match Score accurately, with overall games won being reported. For example, the Match Score can be reported as 3-0, 3-1, etc. Reporting the individual points for each game is optional

At least one member of each team should take a Screenshot(s) of each Round’s results. Screenshots should contain the Round Score, players on each team, and a time stamp. In order to dispute a player leaving and/or an in-game glitch, video proof must be provided. The video must show the Gamertags, Map, Game Type, as well as the player dropping or the opposing team performing a glitch.

In order to dispute Match results, Tickets must be submitted immediately following the Match. The Ticket section below provides more instructions on submitting tickets. Also, Live Support must be used for in-game issues.

If a Screenshot(s) is needed in order to resolve a dispute, it should be transferred to the user’s computer and uploaded to the user’s GameBattles profile. Videos may also be uploaded to a website. The URL for the image(s)/video should be attached to the dispute Ticket(s). You must clearly state what the issue is, the time in the video in which the issue occurred, and/or what the Admin should be looking at in the picture. For all cheating claims, the burden of proof is on the accuser.

Tickets

To submit a Ticket, click “New Support Ticket” found within “My GB” on the console navigation bar. Select category "Arena: Online Tournament", the Arena in which it occurred, and a detailed description of the issue.

When submitting a Ticket, fill out all applicable fields. Incomplete or incorrect Tickets will be closed without being processed.

Once submitted, the status of your Ticket can be viewed through “My Support Tickets” also found within the “My GB” menu.

All Admin decisions are final. After a decision has been made regarding a Ticket, additional Tickets may only be submitted if they contain new information that would affect the outcome of the match.

Tickets are handled in the order that they are received. Staff members should not be contacted regarding the status of Tickets that have not been closed.